The 20 Richest Marvel Superheroes

Since his introduction in Captain America #253, three different men have adopted the mantle of Union Jack. The first was Lord Montgomery Falsworth, a member of the Allies and good friend of Captain America. The second was Brian Falsworth, Montgomery’s son. The last, and most well known was Joey Chapman, a highly trained martial artist and first Union Jack born outside the Falsworth family.

While he may have started powerless, Chapman was possessed by a Pendragon, which granted him abilities similar to those of Captain America. His costume is bullet resistant and he uses a variety of gadgets during combat. There was also a time when he owned a computerized motorcycle that he named “Beryl”. Chapman wasn’t exactly rich, but the Falsworth family was. The Union Jack definitely isn’t as wealthy as some of the other superheroes on this list, but does work for the British Secret Service, which comes with a hefty paycheck.

Silver Sablinova, or Silver Sable, whichever you prefer, first appeared in ‘the Amazing Spider-Man’ #265 in 1985. As a child, Silver’s father and the government of Symkaria founded Silver Sable International, an organization dedicated to tracking down Nazi war criminals. After her father’s death, Silver became the CEO and began leading her own team of mercenaries known as the Wild Pack.

Silver Sable International is funded primarily by sale of service and because they’re so good at what they do, Silver Sable and her company are doing very well. In fact, her company does so well, the profits are enough to keep the country of Symkaria debt free. For a population of roughly 1.5 million people, that’s quite amazing.

Running a team if mutant superheroes can be pretty costly, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Professor Charles Xavier has some pretty deep pockets. Xavier has actually been rich his whole life, growing up in a wealthy family and then inheriting his father’s estate which he converted into the X-Men‘s training facility / base of operations. The institution not only houses some of the coolest futuristic gadgetry in the Marvel Universe (the Danger Room is pretty much a holodeck from Star Trek), but also provides a steady stream of resources that all fall under Xavier’s control.

Although he could have easily used his telepathic powers to increase his fortune, it’s said that Xavier built his fortune through a series of shrewd investments and asset acquisitions. According to the character Fantomex, who tried to extort Xavier in New X-Men #129, the Professor along with his School for Gifted Youngsters are worth an estimated $3.5 billion.

Janet Van Dyne is the daughter of a wealthy scientist who lived a lavish lifestyle before his death. After inheriting the fortune, she approached Hank Pym, who helped transform her into the shirnkable superheroine Wasp.

It’s never exactly made clear how much money Wasp has, but early on her behavior is depicted as haughty and antisocial due to her wealthy upbringing. Later, despite the two being in a long-term romantic relationship, Pym harbors feelings of inadequacy over Janet’s wealth which initially stops him from marrying her. Furthermore, Janet is also owner of Van Dyne Industries and the host of two popular TV shows, so her resources extend well beyond the inheritance she received when her father died.

During the dawn of the Hyborian Age, a hunter named Ulysses was searching for food when he encountered a foreign being known as Ulluxy’l Kwan Tae Syn, the protector of the unearthly crystal (Bloodstone). After witnessing the power of the Bloodstone, Ulysses was unknowingly tricked into bringing his fellow villagers to meet the Ulluxy’l. Long story short, the Bloodstone absorbed the mind of the villagers, killing them all. In a fit of anger Ulysses destroyed the stone, shattering it into hundreds of small pieces. As luck would have it, one of the pieces lodged itself into his chest, making him immortal. After the tragic event, he adopted the name Ulysses Bloodstone and vowed to destroy Ulluxy’ll and reassemble the Bloodstone.

By the 20th century, through investments and mercenary work, Ulysses had become a multimillionaire. He used his money to fund six different mercenary squads that he spread out around the world, all equipped with their own infrastructure and top of the line technology. Ulysses might not be as wealthy as some of the superheroes still to come, but he built his own fortune with his own hands – he wasn’t handed it. I’m looking at you, Danny.

Moon Knight (a.k.a. Marc Spector) had a number of professions before he became a full-time superhero. He spent time as a boxer, a Marine, and as a CIA operative until he was left to die in the Egyptian desert. After being saved by the Egyptian God Khonshu, Spector received powers that he put to good use punishing criminals.

More so than Iron Man, Moon Knight is often referred to as Marvel’s Batman because he fights by night and has all sorts of cool high-tech gadgetry including a chopper, automated limousine, and some pricey Vibranium armor. We know that he started SpectorCorp as an institute of fine arts and historical artifacts, but the nature and business of the corporation has always remained somewhat unclear. As such, it’s implied that the current source of Moon Knight’s wealth is money stolen from criminals. Although specific scores are never revealed, it can probably be assumed that if he knocked off a drug cartel or illegal weapons ring, he could easily be sitting on hundreds of millions of dollars.

Reformed villain Emma Frost not only has incredible psychic powers, she’s got incredible wealth to match. As chair of the board and CEO of the multi-billion dollar electronics corporation, Frost International, she’s got considerable resources at her disposal. Although the comics never really quantify her value with a figure, apparently her liquidated holdings were ample enough to fund the X-Men’s island base for “the forseeable future”, so she must be doing pretty well for herself.

Warren Worthington III comes from an incredibly wealthy family. As a young man he led a privileged life, attending a top expensive boarding school until he sprouted wings and became a costumed superhero. Following his parents death, Warren inherited the millions of dollars in the Worthington fortune. He also became the sole owner of Worthington Industries, one of the most productive and stable companies in the Marvel universe.

For a long time, Angel was the biggest supporter of the X-Men, dolling out tons of money just to keep the operation afloat. At one point Professor X, who we already know is loaded, asked to borrow money from Warren so he could rebuild the mansion and fix the Blackbird.

He also funded X-Factor for a while.

Nighthawk, the alter-ego of Kyle Richmond, spends his night fighting to keep the streets safe. Sounds great, right? Only problem, he wears a black cape and spandex and comes from a wealthy family. Now, before you start sounding the Batman alarm, unlike the Dark Knight, Nighthawk actually has super powers. And let’s face it, Marvel and DC have been copying each other for years – it’s nothing new.

As mentioned, Richmond’s family are loaded, which allows Kyle to fund not only his crusade, but also any superhero team he’s on at the time. Often teaming up with the Defenders, which at the time included Doctor Strange, Hulk, Submariner and the Silver Surfer.

Nighthawk’s suit is also quite incredible, consisting of jet-powered wings, titanium claws, night vision, radio transmitters and multiple other high tech gadgets. While nobody really knows for sure, based on what Marvel has told us, Richmond’s wealth is probably pretty comparable Batman or Iron Fist.

Medusa is a member of the inhuman royal family and also married to their leader, Black Bolt. In addition to being Queen of the Inhumans she’s also the royal interpreter since her husband can’t utter a word without causing massive devastation. Given her position in the Royal family, coupled with her marriage to Black Bolt, Medusa has easy access to incredibly vast resources.

Being the beautiful princess of the inhumans, Crystal has been involved in a series of relationships with a number of other superheroes, most notably the Human Torch and Quicksilver. She’s also been a member of the Fantastic Four, where she used her elemental powers of earth and air to aid the team whenever needed. Much like her sister Medusa, Crystal is a member of the royal inhuman family with access to virtually unlimited wealth.

As the leader of the Fantastic Four, Reed Richards is arguably the smartest man in the Marvel universe. He possesses mastery of electrical engineering and mechanical aerospace, and has demonstrated an unparalleled understanding of all things relating to physics, chemistry and biology. Needless to say, Mr. Fantastic’s brains have generated quite a bit of cash — at least enough to purchase a 35-story office building in the middle of Manhattan.

Reed Richards is also the most prolific inventor in Marvel and even created the spacecraft that was bombarded by cosmic radiation on its maiden voyage, thus giving rise to the Fantastic Four. Reed’s patents are so valuable that he need only exert the slightest financial stress to bankroll the Fantastic Four.

It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that Hercules, demi-God and son of Zeus, is a wealthy guy. While he did inherit his initial fortune, being one of Marvel’s most intelligent heroes, Hercules purchased and invested in hundreds of businesses during his stay on Earth. In fact, Hercules was an early investor in Stark Industries, turning $100,000 dollars into millions. Well played.

It wasn’t until his death, which occurred in ‘Hercules: Fall of An Avenger Vol 1’, that people came to understand just how much Hercules was worth. It’s been said that it took almost two weeks just to gather all the necessary documents on his various business ventures.

When you’re the son of Odin, the concept of wealth is practically irrelevant. If you’ve read the comics, you’ll know that Asgard has multiple Scrooge McDuck-like vaults, filled with gold, artifacts and other various gems and rubies. Not only that, the Asgard is practically made of gold. Put it this way, Thor’s the kind of guy that has a Netflix account, but has no idea who pays for it. His life is good!

Years later when Odin was killed at the hands of Surtur, Thor not only claimed the Odinpower, he became the ruler of Asgard and everything in it. So, all those vaults filled with treasure… all his. Now I understand why Loki is always trying to kill him.

Being an only child, Danny Rand (a.k.a. Iron Fist) inherited his parents’ entire fortune, which also included a 50% stake in his father’s company, Rand-Meachum Incorporated. Upon Danny’s return to New York City from K’un-Lun, and after the death of Harold Meachum (the company’s co-owner), the foundation was renamed Rand Enterprises and Danny was officially named the new CEO.

Seeing what had become of New York City during his absence and as a result of his company’s brutal past, the Iron Fist vowed to change. He turned Rand Enterprises into a non-profit organization, focusing on helping the poor and righting all the wrong that Rand Enterprises was responsible for.

As a result of his incredible wealth, Iron Fist was able to fund the efforts of multiple superhero teams like The Defenders, Secret Avengers and Heroes for Hire, Inc.

Disclaimer: To all those that have yet to read Iron Fist comics, I promise you, he’s much cooler and compelling than Netflix made him out to be.

Namor once explained that he’ll always has money because all the riches of the sea are his. As the ruler of the underwater kingdom of Atlantis, Namor is in possession of thousands of priceless artifacts. Meaning, if he should ever happen to run low on funds, he can always just break off a piece from one of his city’s buildings and sell it to a museum for millions. The Sub-Mariner also financed the formation of a major ecological corporation called Oracle that is dedicated to the protection of the Earth’s environment (especially the oceans).

When you think of all of the valuable objects that fall into the ocean through shipwrecks, as well as nuclear technology from sunken submarines and crude oil deposits on the ocean floor, Namor would probably be richer than a lot of surface nations if he could just convert it all into cash. Although it seems somewhat ironic that the ruler of an underwater civilization would run into financial problems because his assets aren’t liquid enough.

Before he became the Sorcerer Supreme, Doctor Stephen Strange was a highly skilled surgeon who was probably pulling in at least six figures. But when a car crash damaged his hand and left him unable to work he blew most of his money traveling the trying every conceivable treatment to remedy his condition. Eventually his circumstances set him on the path to becoming the most powerful sorcerer of the Earth dimension.

Though he may not have a reputation for being especially rich, unlike a lot of other character,  Doctor Strange has never even shown a hint of financial struggle. Which leads us to believe that his primary source of income won’t be reflected in his savings account.

With his powers he can travel through dimensions, cloak entire buildings, and certainly conjure up all sorts of jewels, money and financial trinkets to support his endeavors. It’s pretty safe to assume that anyone who has the ability to summon pure gold at will won’t be running into any money problems. In fact, Doctor Strange has such easy access to wealth that he seems to transcend it, once asking, “What to me are mundane considerations of Earthly currency?”

With a net worth of $100 billion, Tony Stark is easily one of the richest men in the Marvel Universe, or any universe for that matter. In the comics Stark Industries is the leading provider of just about everything imaginable in the tech sector. And when he isn’t jetting about blasting supervillains as Iron Man, Stark puts his genius-level intelligence to work coming up with technological and scientific breakthroughs that his company can patent. This means that Stark Industries owns enough patents rights to bring in billions of dollars regardless of any other business dealings.

But Tony Stark isn’t the type of guy to just sit back and let his money and ideas work for him. He needs to continue pushing the envelope and coming up with cutting edge ways to improve his various suits of armor so he can become a more powerful hero. He’s also pretty much solely responsible for funding the entire Avengers team so anytime they crash a Quinjet he knows it’s coming out of his pocket.

Black Bolt made his first appearance in Fantastic Four #45 in 1965 and is not only the leader of the Inhumans, but also ruler of Attilans. As you read earlier, he’s married to Medusa and is the brother in-law to Crystal. The Inhuman Royal Family is like the Marvel’s adaptation of the Rothschild Family. They own an island near Manhattan, a hidden city in the Himalayas and best of all, the moon.

Black Bolt and his people have knowledge of Kree technology, as well as an abundance of Earth’s rarest substance: Terrigen crystals. If you combine all their property, technology and the crystals, Black Bolt is one of the richest superheroes in all of Marvel. He’s worth roughly $200 billion, but could be worth billions more if he ever decided sell that Kree technology to the human race.

Despite often being considered a second tier superhero, Black Panther is among the smartest people in the Marvel Universe, and he’s by far the richest. As the king of the fictional African nation of Wakanda, Black Panther, or T’Challa as he’s known when he’s not in costume, controls an entire country that is home to the worlds only known deposit of Vibranium. In case you’re wondering what Vibranium is, it’s what Captain America‘s shield is made out of and it’s even more indestructible than the adamantium that coats Wolverine’s skeleton. According to Marvel, the material costs $10,000 per gram and the vaults of Wakanda contain an estimated 10,000 tons! If you do the math you’ll see that the converted cost adds up to more than the GDP of the entire global economy. And that’s only counting what’s been extracted.

Being the sole proprietor of Vibranium means that other countries and corporations are willing to pay T’Challa billions just to part with a small amount of the extremely rare and precious metal. It also means he has to vigilantly safeguard the deposit, violently when necessary, to ensure that it isn’t stolen by people who aim to acquire it through illegitimate means.

So, from a supply vs. demand perspective concerning the sale of his natural resources, Black Panther is probably worth trillions and is arguably the richest superhero in all of comics.